Four more Covid-19 deaths have been announced in New Zealand today, while there are 17 new cases. Just one of these is in the Southern DHB area.
The Ministry of Health announced the new case in the Queenstown Lakes area, bringing the Southern region's total to 210 confirmed or probable cases.
The Southern DHB said 109 people are now classified as recovered.
There are now 1366 cases of coronavirus in New Zealand, with 15 people in hospital; one case in Dunedin was in a critical condition.
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Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield today announced four more deaths linked to Covid-19 - the country's highest number of deaths in a day to date.
One of the deaths was in Wellington and linked to the Bluff wedding cluster. Three were linked to the Rosewood Rest Home cluster in Christchurch. This brings the national death toll to nine, including six from the Rosewood cluster.
The Ministry of Health has commissioned a review into aged care facilities where there have been cases of Covid-19. They will also be looking at similar facilities where there have not been any cases.
In a statement tonight, the Southern District Health Board said aged residential care staff are looking after about 3000 Southern residents and the DHB committed to supporting staff, residents and their families through this stressful time.
There are 65 aged residential care facilities in the region, operating under a variety of ownership models (from corporate chains to individually owned and managed) with different levels of clinical governance.
"Southern DHB works closely with all facilities as part of normal operations but has significantly increased support and communications in recent months."
This included roadshows in March in preparation for Covid-19 and the 65 facilities were divided into six locality groups to support each other. Online meetings are held twice a week, sharing the latest advice from the Ministry of Health and the Health Quality and Safety Commission. More site visits were planned for this week and next, some will be face to face, while many will be by video conferencing.
The SDHB said the latest Director General of Health request for the readiness status of each facility was not unexpected and will be built into current checks and reporting.
"Over half of our facilities have four year certification from the Ministry of Health, indicating that currently meet all standards and requirements and are engaged in significant continuous quality improvement."
NEW CALL CENTRE
A new centralised call service and free phone number- 0800 VIRUS19 (0800 847 8719) - is helping to streamline assessment and possible testing for Covid-19 in the Southern region, the DHB says.
The new service is based at WellSouth’s Dunedin office and began receiving calls last Thursday, making it easier for patients to inquire about and to access Covid-19 testing. The new service also helps ensure that patients who don’t need testing will not have to ‘leave their bubble’ unnecessarily.
Six phone lines are staffed by clinicians who assess and triage patients and refer, where appropriate, for testing. Patients can go on to be tested at a Community Based Assessment Centre (CBAC), their own GP or a designated practice, whichever is most appropriate and convenient.
Testing for Covid-19 is being conducted by most general practices, at three CBACs in the Southern region – in Dunedin, Queenstown and Invercargill.
There are also six Designated Practices where people who don’t have a GP, or who don’t know who their doctor is, can be referred for testing. These are: Fiordland Medical Centre, He Puna Waiora Wellness Centre, Kurow Medical, Mosgiel Health Centre, Te Kāika, and Wanaka/Aspiring medical centres.
WHO SHOULD GET TESTED?
Covid-19 Case Definition Criteria: (as of April 14)
Any acute respiratory infection with at least one of the following symptoms: cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, coryza*, anosmia** with or without fever.
*Coryza – head cold e.g. runny nose, sneezing, post-nasal drip
**Anosmia – loss of sense of smell
Some people may not meet the suspect case definition but may present with symptoms such as only: fever, diarrhoea, headache, myalgia, nausea/vomiting, or confusion/irritability. If there is not another likely diagnosis, and they have a link to a recent traveller, a confirmed, or probable case, consider testing.
*The SDHB said the Covid-19 case definition and testing protocols are constantly evolving and these criteria may change.
